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On Translations
Khademul Islam
Translation Theory and Practice (ed. Niaz Zaman); Dhaka: Academic Press and Publishers Limited; 2004; pp. 145; Tk. 200.
The Wonders of Vilayet by Mirza Sheikh I'tesamuddin (translated by Kaiser Haq); Delhi: Chronicle Books; 2008; pp. 182; Rs. 425. Selected Poems Shamsur Rahman (translated by Kaiser Haq); Dhaka: Pathak Shamabesh; 2008; pp.88; Tk. 350.
Niaz Zaman's edited volume of twelve articles on translation 'theory and practice' was born out of a 2003 PEN Bangladesh work-shop/seminar on the topic. It is an uneven product. The rationale for reprinting pieces such as Lars Hulden's 'Translating the Kalevala' and Salvador Ortiz -Carboneres' Translating Nicholas Guillen' from PEN International volumes is lost on this reviewer. No explanatory note, for example, is provided on what is the Finnish 'Kalevala.' And here it might be pertinent to ask of PEN Bangladesh exactly what it thinks its role is in terms of providing support to besieged writers. It stayed notably silent during, and subsequent to, the murder attempt on Humayun Azad, and it continued to be mute as Taslima Nasrine was hounded out of India. Where is PEN Bangladesh's voice during such times?
The most interesting articles are the ones that focus on translations from Bengali to English, an emerging field of activity in Bangladesh. In this respect both Niaz Zaman's and Kabir Chowdhury's (his in Bengali) essays arc data-ladcn and informative. Niza Zaman makes a convincing plea for greater recognition of the translator's toil as well as for more translation courses in our universities, while one of Kabir Chowdhury's articles reprints a fascinating Bengali translation by Bishnu Dey of Eliot's 'Gerontion.' By far the best pieces in the collection are Rimi Chatterjee's 'Translation' (though the source for this piece is not given), and the ones by Fakrul Alam and Syed Manzoorul Islam on translating Tagore. The latter two provide interesting counterpoints to each other, with Fakrul Alam setting forth in a closely-argued manner his translating principles for Tagore's works vis-a-vis other notable translators of the poet. However, it may be said that this particular comparative method, with other translators being at a distinct disadvantage in not being able to rebut critiques leveled at them, does invariably tend to present Fakrul Alam's own translation strategies in the best possible light. S M Islam, in an all-too-short piece, exquisitely points out the dangers of “fragmentation" in translating Tagore at the level of word, phrase, and sentence. Chatterjee, who teaches at Jadavpur University, with enviable fluency dissects the various problems of translating from Bengali to English within a framework that ranges from Macauley to current India.
Despite the caveats, this is a book that engages with a topic seldom written on by Bangladeshis, and Niaz Zaman deserves full credit for bringing it out.
The other two volumes are reprints of translations already published by Kaiser Haq, poet and English professor at Dhaka University. One is an attractively produced volume of English translations of 46 of Shamsur Rahman's poems. The first edition was published by BRAC Prokashona in 1985, and has long been out of print. Since, as the translator points out in his Introduction, Shamsur Rahman is "unquestionably our foremost poet,” and the translations here are arguably the best that have appeared, this reprint by Pathok Shomabesh is most welcome. One hopes that Kaiser Haq goes on to attempt further translations not only of Shamsur Rahman's large ouevre, but also of other major Bangladeshi poets.
The Wonders of Vilayet is also a translation by Kaiser Haq. It is a travel narrative written originally in Persian by Sheikh Mirza I'tesamuddin, a Bengali Muslim gentleman who set sail for England sometime in early 1765 on a letter-delivery mission from the Mughal emperor to King George III. The mission failed, but I'tesamuddin, who stayed on till 1769, successfully recorded his impressions of England. The original manuscript was never published, though it was translated into English and published in 1827 by James Alexander. Much later, in 1981, Dr. Habibullah of Dhaka University's Islamic department translated it into Bengali and published it as Vilayetnarna. It is this book that Kaiser Haq has (re)translated into English, trusting the Bengali version to have been "capable of capturing the content and emotional tone of the Persian."
The result is a modern and thoroughly enjoyable read, with an excellent Translator's Introduction that comprehensively effaces the need for any
further review of the book It should however be noted that this 18th century account by an Indian of Britain is not the reverse gaze of the Orientalist discourse found in British imperial travel narratives of India, as well in the later John Murray and Cook travel guides (a discourse which extends down into our age in subliminal ways in present-day Lonely Planet guides). I'tesamuddin's prejudices regarding race and colour, about 'effeminate Indians,' are quite the opposite, resulting from his identifica-tion--he was a member of the Mughal elite--with the ruling imperial class whereby he actually internalized and reproduced aspects of that particular discourse. Food for thought for us even today!
The first edition of this book was published by Peepul Tree in England (2002), which made it unavailable in Bangladesh. Hopefully this Indian edition will go a long way in addressing that problem.
Khademul Islam is literary editor, The Daily Star.